All Humans Are Welcome Here!

Tag: puppys feet

red jasper arrowhead in person's hand

Jasper Arrowhead

Curtis, a sparkly blue-eyed babe I met in the middle of nowhere the other day, kindly taught me how to find arrowheads. Last night I thought I’d give it a try. Right away I found something that looked like it might be an arrowhead, maybe, but I really wanted to see a real one. So this morning I set my intentions high, making sure to be specific on what I was asking for. I stopped after walking an hour or so to take off my thermals (is this like a stupid cold, short ass day time of year to be thru hiking or what?) and filter some water. I looked around for an arrowhead. All done, no luck, I threw… continue reading

Troopers

There are certain sacrifices you make to walk long distances through the wilderness and pretty feet are one of them. But I still adore my feet no matter how they look; they’re troopers and they’ll take me anywhere. 800 miles no blisters and no fractures. And no water to wash them with tonight. ? LUV YOU, FEETSIES ?

Hiking Shoes for Christmas

My Christmas present is new hiking shoes, and you know what that means… ? One more week with friends and family in rainy Portland, then 2016’s adventure begins at the Oregon Coast. 2015 has been so amazing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y’all!! ?

RIP Shoes

Rest in peace, shoes. I think I accidentally put way too many miles on us and now you’re flat and torn and tired. Portland, Brookings, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Eureka, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Sebastopol, Los Angeles, Mt. Laguna, Whitewater, Palm Springs, Whitewater-Cajon Pass on foot, San Francisco, Yosemite, Mariposa, Tuolumne-Twin Lakes on foot, Bridgeport, Lone Pine, San Bernardino, Whitewater. You have seen A LOT.

Waldies in Snow

My poor, poor tired and aching dogs. Cooling them off near Old Snowy mountain, mile 2284.5 of the PCT. I hiked 11 miles in those sandals yesterday; didn’t know what else to do because my feet just needed a rest but I had to walk. The feets have gone on strike! These sandals have zero traction. But I dunno, when you grow up in Alaska you develop a relationship with all the types of snow and ice. This melting and grainy snow just wasn’t slippery at all. The cold felt so nice on my inflamed feet!

Dirty Feet

Embarrassing to admit, but I was too tired to wash my feet before sleep. I rubbed off the loose dirt before slipping into my bag liner. This is how they look most every night, normal, especially when water is scarce or I’m doing big miles. I want to say this is normal for thru-hikers, but then again, most the people I talk to seem to have a thing against putting dirty feet in their sleeping bag. Where do they find the energy? The time? The water? Are they all carrying wet wipes?! I’m not. I can’t.

Hot Siesta

Siesta at mile 660.7 with a view of Bert’s Canyon, 7045 feet up just north of Walker Pass in California. “Realfeel” is 106 degrees. First thing to do whenever I stop walking is take off the shoes. That helps cool things down really fast.

Little Package